With the World Cup done for the England team, most fans are looking forward to the start of the new County cricket and test seasons and what will unfold throughout the summer. England have series scheduled against the West Indies, New Zealand and eventually Australia to look forward to, but whilst this is going on, the eighteen counties will compete for potentially three different titles amongst all forms of the game.
Last season, Yorkshire and Hampshire took the Division 1 and 2 titles respectively, and both prepare for opening games on the 12th April; Hampshire home to Sussex and Yorkshire away to newly promoted Worcestershire. The four day event has been seen in recent years as the main funnel for an England test call-up, with the likes of Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid getting the nod for the next tour to the West Indies in April, due to their superb form in the Yorkshire team last year (as well as injuries in key areas).
The Top division of four-day cricket looks set to be a split affair with some counties looking set to challenge Yorkshire for their title, including the likes Warwickshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire who not only post a plethora of home-grown talent, but kolpak and experienced overseas players to boot. The flip side of this is that the newly promoted sides, who have seen players leave them, will struggle to compete. Due to this, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a repeat of last year and Yorkshire were to lift the LV County Championship again and if both Hampshire and Worcestershire were to go straight back down again.
As for Division 2, there are vast mixtures of teams. Lancashire and Northamptonshire were both relegated last season and would have made it their primary goal to return to Division 1 this year. Having said that, there are plenty of teams who could really challenge for promotion this year, making Division 2, more of a lottery rather than a stereotypical league where one team runs away with it. This was shown last year when Hampshire managed to sneak a win at Glamorgan on the last day and go above Worcestershire to claim the Division 2 title.
Derbyshire have made very good progress in the way of transfers this winter, having recruited Martin Guptill up to June and then Tillakaratne Dilshan from August to September. This gives them an experienced head at the top of the order all year, something that Derbyshire could require come important dates in the season such as knock-out fixtures and end of season deciders. This leads to me to believe that deciding the two teams who will be promoted is harder than first thought. It seems Lancashire will have too much class for the rest of the division, and one of Derbyshire and Northants will join them in the promotion places, although Essex aren’t to be left out and with Jesse Ryder back for another year, they could be the dark horses of the division.
The NatWest T20 Blast has come under scrutiny as of late, due to its ‘boring’ and ‘unhelpful’ formatting, but it is staying as a county-based tournament, for now. Warwickshire spoiled Flintoff’s return party last year and secured their first ever finals day victory. This year they look to try to be the first county ever to retain their crown for successive years.
The usual teams look set to challenge for a spot at finals day, with counties bringing in overseas players specifically for this event. Yorkshire have hit the headlines this year by bringing previous million dollar IPL Australian Glenn Maxwell to the north, along with his fellow countryman Aaron Finch who will be there for the whole season as much as internationals permit. These two alone can win you a game, but combine them with the class squad they already have then Yorkshire have a truly formidable team and must be seen as favourites for the title by most.
Nottinghamshire have been unfortunate in recent years, dominating the north group to only bow out at the quarter-final stage, but plenty of new faces look set to push them further this year, although with Alex Hales and James Taylor in the new England set-up, they won’t play such a big part as they did last year.
Hampshire, Lancashire and Somerset are all set for big seasons in the shortest form of the game, but my personal pick for the trophy are Surrey. Having brought in Kumar Sangakkara all summer he will bring experience in a fairly young order and with Kevin Pietersen having made a big U-turn, it seems likely that he will play. Combine this with Stuart Meaker and Chris Tremlett’s raw pace and they have a solid balance between bat and ball.
The second year of the revitalised Royal London One Day Cup is set to be a cracker with many teams reaching scores of 300+ on regular occasions. Durham took the honours last year and with only eight group games, getting through the group can be the hardest part. Similarly to the County Championship, teams will have their overseas available to play in this format, so we won’t see as many international stars as we might do in the T20 Blast, but there is still plenty of talent on show, as well as a good stage to see how young players fare under the international rules. A few good games in this format can see you really jump into contention for an ODI spot. Most teams already mentioned will have a good chance of gaining silverware here, even though some teams will look to use this as an opportunity to blood youngsters into the team.
A new season always brings excitement to any fan, and hopefully some new rising stars can stand up and be counted on the international stage and give English fans something to cheer about this summer.
